The ban on banks borrowing through its window, the Standing Lending Facility (SLF), has been lifted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In response to the choices reached during the bank’s 296th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the top bank also set the loan rate at 31.75 percent.
In a statement dated August 26, 2024, Omolara Duke, Director of the Financial Markets Department, stated: “At its 296th meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) changed the upper corridor of the standing facilities to 5.00 percent from 1.00 percent around the MPR.
“Therefore, the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) suspension is hereby lifted, and Authorised Dealers are hereby instructed to submit their SLF requests through the Sceipless Securities Settlement System (S4) between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.
According to Duke, authorized dealers can now access the ILF for free if they repay the loan on the same day and the SLF for 31.75% to avoid system congestion.
Collateral execution—the rediscounting of instruments pledged by participants at the penal rate by CBN—is reintroduced following the approved repo guidelines. She also stated that the 5% penalty is retained for participants who do not settle their ILF, which the system will convert to SLF at 36.75%.
